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Mission Statement

WhitpainResidents.org is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy group dedicated to responsible development and preserving the quality of life in Whitpain Township.

We believe that "responsible development" is development that:

Does not impinge upon our quality of life.

Maintains the character of Whitpain and safeguards our health and safety.

Is the least intensive possible.

Preserves green space to the greatest extent possible.

Does not place excess burdens on our infrastructure.

We intend to do the following to help safeguard our quality of life.

Community Organization

We believe that the voice of many is more effective than the voice of a few. In order that we may be an effective agent for responsible development, we will:

Ask every Whitpain resident to be a part of WhitpainResidents.org.

Maintain an open dialog concerning land use issues among our membership.

Ask that our elected officials respect and respond to our views.

Work with other groups sharing common concerns.

Reliance on Zoning

We believe that zoning should protect us from uses which are inconsistent with the character of Whitpain, harm our environment or jeopardize our health and safety. To allow a reliance on zoning, when necessary we will:

Review, research, take a position and educate the community on major changes to zoning ordinance.

Organize the community in support of, or in opposition to, zoning issues.

Least Intensive Development

We believe that land should be developed in the manner that is least intrusive upon the community and the environment while still allowing the landowner a reasonable economic benefit. When appropriate we will:

Review, research, take a position and educate the community on major land use applications.

Attempt to work with developers to find low intensity uses for land that meets their economic goals.

Present to the appropriate Whitpain Township Board or Commission legal arguments against development which we believe does not meet the letter and spirit of Whitpain Township Zoning.

Green Space

We believe that green space should be preserved to the greatest extent possible. To preserve green space we will:

Coordinate with and help organizations whose mission is dedicated to green space.

Advocate for the use of public funds and the collection of private funds to purchase land for green space set asides.

Attempt to work with developers to encourage them to develop in a manner that preserves and creates green space.

Maintainable Infrastructure

We believe that our infrastructure resources are finite and that we overload them at our peril. To maintain our infrastructure without placing additional burdens on taxpayers, we will:

Encourage the construction of sidewalks, walk and bike ways to reduce reliance on motorized transport.

Review, research, take a position and educate the community on infrastructure demands posed by major development.

Present to the appropriate Whitpain Township Board or Commission legal arguments against development which we believe places an untenable burden on infrastructure or places additional financial burden on taxpayers.

If you are a voting age resident of Whitpain, please join us in protecting our quality of life by completing our membership form.